Tag Archives: dressmaking

I love crafts, I’ve taught myself to cross stitch to patterns, to design my own cross stitches, to embroider, to crochet and knit, but one thing I could never quite get my head around was making clothing. So I recently signed up to do a clothes making evening course at my local adult education centre to help me learn how to read and use patterns!

I have been to two weeks classes, and so far I’ve cut my fabric. It’s a lot more complicated than I thought, but it’s so much easier watching someone do it than trying to work it out myself, and have someone to ask when I’m not sure.

This is the pattern I’m using, I got it free in an issue of Love Sewing Magazine. It’s not a great one to use because it doesn’t have a great amount of detail on it like commercial patterns do and she’s teaching us all about that, but it’ll do, and I’ll get a proper one next time.

The other great thing about going to the class is that we can get practical help from our tutor, she took my measurements and my bust and waist are one size, and my hips come up 3 sizes bigger! This is one of the problems I find when trying to make (or generally wear!!!!) clothes. So she is going to help me adjust the pattern and fit it to me. So far I’ve cut out the fabric and am working on making ‘tailors tacks’ along the dart lines, which are marks made using contrasting thread, rather than pen or nothing at all. Who knew sewing could be so technical!!

Got to do the rest of the tailors tacks now, as homework, so I can start sewing next class!! Just about to get that done while watching a nice Sunday afternoon film- ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?’ Haha!